Women’s Hockey: Terriers tie Friars, fall short in shootout

By Owen Gund

Providence R.I. — For the second straight game and the third time in their last four games, the Boston University Terriers (12-13-6,11-8-5 HEA) played past regulation, skating to a 1-1 tie against Providence College (14-13-6, 11-12-3 HEA) with the Friars snagging the extra point in the shootout.

In her third start in BU’s last four games, freshman goaltender Callie Shanahan turned aside 42 Providence shots.

“Obviously, she played extremely well,” BU head coach Brian Durocher said of Shanahan. “Any night when you give up only one goal, it’s usually a good showing. When the shots are in the 40-range or maybe a little bit higher, you’ve got to figure it’s a very good showing. … All in all, a good performance for Callie.”

It didn’t take long for the Terriers to get on the board in this one. Just 57 seconds into the game, Alex Allan broke the ice for BU. The senior defender seized an opportunity to jump up into the play and walked in from the right point. Allan fired a wrist shot toward the net, followed up the rebound, and stuffed in a wraparound to put the Terriers up 1-0.

Durocher thought the early goal was important for both Allan and the team.

“It was nice for Alex to get a goal there,” Durocher said. “It was very timely for our team momentum-wise and confidence-wise. It just put the home team on their heels a little bit.” 

The Terriers had the Friars on their heels and carried the play for the opening 10 minutes of the game, but senior forward Emma Wuthrich allowed the Friars to get back in the game when she took an interference penalty with 7:34 to go in the first period.

The Friars scored 26 seconds into the man advantage, with senior forward Hayley Lunny banging home the equalizer. The Bedford, N.Y native knocked home the rebound off a wrist shot through traffic from her teammate, Sara Hjalmarsson. 

https://twitter.com/PCWHockey/status/1494816092300230662?s=20&t=HpyJq2tYxteW3B6SL662fg

The first period came to a close with the score tied at one and the Friars holding a 16-11 edge in shots on goal.

The second period saw the Friars pick up their intensity, but Shanahan kept them off the scoresheet. Durocher noticed his team’s compete level escalate following the first two periods.

“I think the third period was probably our best, and I think we did a pretty good job in the overtime as well,” Durocher said. 

Following a back and forth third period where each team registered 12 shots on goal, the teams delivered an exciting display of 3-on-3 hockey in the five-minute overtime. There were several odd-woman rushes, and both goaltenders made impressive saves to extend the game. In the final two minutes of overtime, Shanahan made a particularly noteworthy kick save to help send the game to a shootout.

The Friars secured the extra point in the skills competition, thanks to two quick strikes from Hjalmarsson and Friar captain Caroline Peterson. The senior forwards shot the puck stick side and glove side, respectively.

It will be a quick turnaround for both the Terriers and Friars, with both teams set to square off again at Walter Brown Arena at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on NESNplus. 

Photo by Patrick Donnelly

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